Top 10 Business Tips from Successful Entrepreneurs

By Montrie Rucker AdamsMay 3, 2013 Blog business owners, business tips, sba

If you are a frequent reader of our blogs, you’ll notice that we like to share videos. Since most of us are busier than we’d like to be, it can sometimes be easier to view or even listen to information.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Postal Service offer Delivering Success, a video of interviews with successful business owners who share the lessons they have learned about owning a small business.

In this video, several businesses share their tips for business planning and becoming successful.

Thank you to Scottsdale Education Center, Optimal Lifestyles, BKG, Blue Sky Spaworks & Gallery, CakeLove, Savvy Gourmet, Superior Chocolates and Fairytale Brownies for sharing their tips.

What are the top 10 business tip?

Get a mentor
Test your idea
Hire quality
Stay on your game
Focus on your mission
Develop partnerships
Plan for the future
Set goals
Stay focused
Protect your brand

Watch the video to hear more in-depth detail about how to utilize these wonder tips.

http://youtu.be/j3bMX8jErDo

Do you agree with these tips? What will you add to the list? Let me know what you think.

You Are Never Too Old to Start a Business

By Montrie Rucker AdamsMay 1, 2013 Blog aarp, encore entrepreneur, sba, small business

Who says you can’t start a business after retiring from your job? Who says you can’t start a business in your later years? The other morning in my inbox I received a great piece of information from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Yes, I receive AARP communications because they have a wealth of information for me and to share with you.

The email contained information on a short, 30-minute online course called, “Encore Entrepreneurs: An Introduction to Starting Your Own Business” which is sponsored by both AARP and the SBA. This course is designed for individuals planning to start a business after earlier career endeavors.

You can view the online course or download and print the text-based accessible version in PDF. Unfortunately, it is not available on all mobile devices, as the presentation is in Adobe Flash.

If you aren’t quite ready to just sit back, relax and enjoy your retirement, consider starting a business. It can even be a small and/or part time. Use at no cost to you, the SBA’s Small Business Learning Center to research and plan out your next new endeavor!

Good luck!

SlideShare Helps to Brand Your Business

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 29, 2013 Blog branding, marketing, slideshare, visual content 1 Comment

Have you struggled with company branding and securing business leads? A great way to do this is by using SlideShare. Most people think it’s used just to share business presentations, but you can also use it as a branding tool – to share information about your business, services and products.

With the rapidly growing use of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, more people are becoming bored with text-based content. People are visual. Hence, “a picture is worth a thousand words…”
One way to avoid the boredom is to create and share visual content. Similar to a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation, SlideShare allows you to develop and share creative visual content across the Web.

SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million page views, it is among the most visited 200 websites in the world. Besides presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars.

With that amount of visitors and page views, and the free and paid features offered, using SlideShare as a branding tool could be the right answer for your business.

Just think… your SlideShare presentation can be viewed, shared, and embedded by thousands of people.

Take a look at this example of how you can use SlideShare.

Why I love slideshare from Jesse Desjardins – @jessedee

Try it out…and let me know what you think.

Are You Interactive on Social Media?

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 26, 2013 Blog communitainment, engage your audience, facebook, target audience, twitter

If you’re like me, you have heard over and over again that you have to engage your audience. It’s not enough to push information out to them, you have to respond. I’m just learning about and getting used to this process too. I could be much, much better.

To help us out, Mark Ragan, CEO of Ragan Communications, answers a PR Daily reader’s Facebook post on how to increase engagement on social media channels–without being annoying.

He uses the term, “communitainment.” He suggests that we can get more interaction with users on Facebook pages and Twitter feeds by providing compelling information, fun compelling videos, humorous news, that is relevant to your audience. People want to be engaged with great content. You don’t want to bore them.

Click here to view his short video. I am going to work very hard incorporating his suggestions. How about you? Let me know what you think.

How to Build Your LinkedIn Company Page

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 24, 2013 Blog branding, business pages, linkedin

There are a lot of people with businesses on LinkedIn. Building your company’s page will allow you to showcase your brand and connect to your business’ target audience.

The following video is part of a Webcast provided by LinkedIn and HubSpot. Who better to learn from than the pros themselves on, “How to Build Your LinkedIn Company Page for Business Success?”

http://youtu.be/6jbnZfVZb2M

I hope this video will help you get your business page built on LinkedIn. Try it and let me know what you think.

Spending Your Marketing Dollars on Branding

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 22, 2013 Blog branding, build you website, developing your website, entrepreneur online, karen leland, marketing, websites

Have you ever gone to a website to look up a product and the website was just awful? The company may have a great product or provide excellent service, but their website is not reflective of either.

Marketing expert Karen Leland, contributor on Entrepreneur Online, shares tips on why you should hire the best people to do the job.

She gives the example about websites. Skimping on your website can cost you more in the long run, so spend your marketing dollars wisely. Price is important – but don’t sacrifice quality for the sake of the dollar. If Designer One is more expensive but provides a better deliverable – then hire them. Don’t select Designer Two because he’s cheaper, but you know his/her work isn’t as great as Designer One. Do not short change yourself.

Your website should be a reflection of you. Everything you would say to a prospective client should be on your website.

Click here to view a short video. You will save money by not having to make up for what the company messed up.

SBA Assistance for Women-Owned Businesses

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 19, 2013 Blog sba, small business administration, women owned businesses

The SBA is a useful resource for small businesses. If there is an office in your area, please take advantage of their services. If meeting face-to-face is difficult, peruse the information they have available online.

If your business is woman-owned and you need business, marketing or financial assistance, then you should visit the “Women-Owned Businesses” area of the Small Business Association’s (SBA) website. Useful information includes:

Starting Your Business

Writing a Business Plan
Registering a Business
Licenses & Permits
Laws & Regulations
Preparing Business Taxes

Growing Your Business

Hiring Employees
Employee Benefits
Employee Incentives
Marketing a Business
Exporting

Financing Your Business

Estimating Start-up Costs
Financing Basics

Mentoring & Training

Find a Business Mentor
Online Training
Finding Local Resources
Learning about the WOSB Program

Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it. Use the SBA and their resources whenever you need them. They can help your business grow.

Do You Have a Marketing Plan?

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 15, 2013 Blog Business Owners' Toolkit, marketing plans, marketing strategy, sales plans

I have to admit, when I first started, I didn’t. All I wanted to do was start doing what I loved to do. I figured if someone referred me, and that person referred me, then I was good. Well, that does work, but I soon realized that I needed more.

It takes a lot for me to tear away from the day-to-day and do what need to be done. I knew I had to complete a business plan, but didn’t have the time. When a business plan writing contest came about, I quickly signed up. I didn’t expect to win, place or show, all I wanted to do was complete it.

Within that document, I had to include how I planned to market my business. Sometimes what is required in the business plan is not enough. Luckily, the “Business Owners’ Toolkit” offers great advice on how to draft a separate marketing plan.

There are four marketing components in your business plan – Marketing 101 – product, price, place and promotion.

How will you market your business, product or services?
Have you conducted any marketing analysis? Are there enough people in your area or on the Internet interested or willing to purchase what you have to offer?
Do you have a marketing strategy? Do you know how you plan to get your products or services into the hands of your customers?
Have you developed marketing and sales plans? How will you reach your customers to market your products? What type of advertising will you use (print, broadcast, Internet)?

The Business Owners’ Toolkit goes into detail about how to develop a strong marketing plan. It also provides a sample plan(s) for you to use as a guide while developing yours. Read what they have to offer in full here – http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/startup/planning/business-plan-marketing-component.aspx.

While you are there, also check out the marketing tab. There is information on product development, Internet marketing, advertising, public relations and a lot more.

You will be amazed at how much information is there.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

How to Avoid Work-Life Burn Out

By Montrie Rucker AdamsApril 12, 2013 Blog entrepreneur online, venting, work life balance

Last week I wrote the blog, “Don’t Burn the Candle at Both Ends.” I talked about taking time out of your busy schedule to take care of yourself.

While reading Entrepreneur Online, I stumbled upon this video, “How to Avoid Getting Burned Out.” Business Coach Ann Mehl discusses how entrepreneurs can figure out their work-life balance. Mehl is not a big proponent of work-life balance, she says it’s BS. However, she does propose getting three parts into your life: your inner self, work and other (family, volunteerism, exercise). She calls it, “Managing where your attention is…”

Here’s the video where she explains it further.

This is great advice and cannot be reiterated enough.

Take time for yourself, even if it’s five to ten minutes during your busy day. I often take a quick nap when I get home…before I do anything else that usually involves running the children to their appointments and helping with homework. They know that I need that down time. It refreshes me to carry out the rest of the evening, which is about seven more hours before bedtime.

Try it…and let me know what you think.